It has its moments and its place in Tolkien films, but for me it was not an acceptable version. Too many mispronunciations and complete misusing of a name. and for me Aragorn was way off, and as child I kept wondering how Saruman (Aruman sometimes) became Theoden, the characters are too close.

Yes the Saruman/Aruman thing is annoying, and yes the Balrog looks like a lion with wings, but I enjoyed it much more than the Rankin/Bass versions (which, I'm sorry, are terrible in my opinion).

I liked the way they stayed close to the book, and two characters stood out for me in particular-Gollum (voiced by Peter Woodthorpe, who also did him in the BBC radio version) sounded appropriate(no offence meant, Mr. Serkis, you were great, but Woodthorpe's voice was almost perfect for Gollum in my opinion).

Even more of a standout was John Hurt's voice work for Aragorn-just as I imagined the character, and the Aragorn that I hear inside my head whenever I read the book.

It would have been very interesting to have seen what Bakshi would have done with Return of the King, particularly how he would have handled Shelob. "These are Gundabad Wargs! They will outrun you!"

was bery good. It was the movie that caused shudders and rolling eyes. And the blasted fact that it ends in the middle of the story!!!! Fourth Age Adventures at the Inn of the Burping Troll http://burpingtroll.com

It was a decent effort. However, doing the films live action, for all their faults, elevated the fantasy genre from cartoons. That's another important aspect of what Peter Jackson did. The whole genre is taken more seriously now because technology and innovation allowed it to be filmed the way it was. It's almost what the Wizard of Oz was to films for children, and it opened up the market. Sure, there were fantasy films before LOTR, but they got even worse reviews and no notice in awards at all, even though a few had some merit.

...based on entire Lotr book, without omitting any details or at least, using 90% of all the entire material, I would like to see them in this style, only partially. Rotoscoping is a nice technology and orcs sometimes fell out of place, but they were really scary (though designs could've been better).

Speaking for myself, I loved the Rankin/Bass versions and hated Bakshi's film. It depends on one's personal taste and early experiences. The Rankin/Bass Hobbit was my introduction to Tolkien's world so it will always have a place in my heart. I prefer those character designs, those voice actors, and the use of music, especially the songs adapted directly from Tolkien's poems.

I just couldn't warm up to Bakshi's version. The Saruman/Aruman thing was confusing and unprofessional. The rotoscoping was distracting. The Balrog was pretty laughable. Boromir's Viking helmet was a very odd choice. The Elrond design was awful. And of course, while not Bakshi's fault, it ends in the middle of the story.

The Rankin/Bass versions are flawed as well, of course. But for me at least, they have a nostalgia factor and a charming style that I find more appealing than Bakshi's film.

I've always thought the script was pretty economical. I think it would hard for anyone to do better in the same amount of run time. Has the complete script (including the unreleased/unfilmed portion) ever been made available to the public? I'd love to see that.

To my eyes, the Balrog looks too much like Drooper from the Banana Splits

you (and others!) might be interested in this Bakshi/Jackson mix...
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A few years ago, I found this great series on youtube by a fan who took on the job of combining images from the Jackson trilogy with the Bakshi movie audio.

I always had a hard time getting past the animation, so seeing it in this way helped me to appreciate Bakshi's attempt a bit more. I know see it as a sort of "rough draft" than something that missed the mark.

You can get to all the other ones if you do a search for "when peter met ralph" posts by me (weaver), if you want to see them all, or just access them all via youtube directly. At least I hope they are still available that way, they are worth a watch! Weaver

I recently found a copy of Bakshi's version for pretty cheap so I decided to give it a second chance. I ended up enjoying it more than the first time I saw it. It covers a decent chunk of the story in a pretty economical way. The prologue in shadow is an interesting technique. Most of the characters are well acted and consistent with the book (though I still dislike many of the designs. Seriously, where are Aragorn's pants?). John Hurt was pretty awesome, as he usually is. Overall, it's a better movie than I remembered.

I still feel the same about my main issues though -- the rotoscoping and the Saruman/Aruman thing. The rotoscoping just looks ugly and awkward to me. It doesn't blend well with the other animation. It's distracting and takes me out of the story. As for Saruman's changing name, I just find that baffling. Didn't Bakshi notice this while editing the film? Was there a rush to get it in theaters so he wasn't able to rerecord dialogue?

I think I will always prefer the Rankin/Bass movies but Bakshi did a fairly decent interpretation. Too bad he didn't get to finish it.

That's excellent!first time I've seen it and it illustrates what I said when FOTR came out.there are a lot of nods and tips of the hat from Mr Jackson to the bakshi version.structure of the prologue is the obvious one but there are more and rightly so because bakshis version was a big thing back in the day,I've got very fond memories of it being on t.v. at Christmas when I was a kid...wonder if this is why a lot of us love the fact that the rings trilogy came out at Xmas time...?I think PJ recognised that bakshi had the right idea and could see what he was trying to do and put a few nods in there in respect of that.thanks for putting that on weaver Arrow....black arrow,I have saved you to the last.you have never failed me and always I have recovered you.I had you from my father and he from old.if ever you came from the forges of the true king under the mountain,go now and speed well